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For Parents: Annual Notification For Religious Expression Days

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For Parents: Annual Notification For Religious Expression Days
Consistent with state law, the Board fully and reasonably accommodates any sincerely held religious beliefs and practices of individual students with regard to all examinations or other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system. 
 
Students may be excused for up to three religious expression days per school year to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system, or participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. Students who are absent on approved religious expression days will not face any academic penalties and will be provided with academic accommodations with regard to examinations or other academic requirements that are missed.
 
The procedure to receive accommodations for religious expression days is as follows:
  • Parents or guardians must submit written requests to the Principal within 14 calendar days after the start of the school year (or 14 calendar days after their child is enrolled in the District if transferring or enrolling into the District after the start of the school year) of up to three specific religious expression day(s) the parents/guardians are requesting to be approved for the 2026-2027 school year. For CH-UH students who are enrolled as of the first day of school (August 19), written requests must be submitted to the school principal by Wednesday, September 2.
  • The Principal will approve the request(s) without inquiry into the sincerity of the student’s religious or spiritual belief system. The Principal may contact the parent/guardian whose signature appears on the request to verify the authenticity of the request; if the parent/guardian indicates that the signature is not authentic, the Principal may deny the request.
Once the day(s) have been approved, the Principal will ensure that each teacher schedules a time and date for alternative examinations or other academic requirements that conflict with the student's absence. The alternative date may be before or after the originally scheduled time and date.
 
Students may participate in interscholastic athletics or other extracurricular activities on days they are absent for approved religious expression days.
 
The Board utilizes Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Non-Exhaustive List of Major Religious Holidays (available here). This list is non-exhaustive and will not be used to deny accommodations to a student for a holiday, festival, or observation that is not included in the list. Nothing in this policy, and no inclusion or exclusion of a religious holiday or festival on the list, shall preclude a student from full and reasonable accommodations for any sincerely held religious beliefs and practices with regard to all examinations or other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system.
 
For more information, refer to Board Policy 5200 or contact Sean Patton, Chief of Human Resources and District Operations at s_patton@CHUH.org or 216-320-2030, who can provide further information about the policy and procedure for requesting religious expression days.

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